IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


// 


// 


y. 


v.. 


1.0 


I.I 


1^ 


IL25  III  u 


2.0 


iiiiin 


1.6 


PhotDgrapbic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


iV 


<r 


^\ 


*% 


V 


o^ 


4is 


Ua 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


n 


n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


□    Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endon 


□    Cov 
Cou 


mmagee 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 


verture  restaur^e  et/ou  pellicul^e 

er  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


I       I    Cover  title  missing/ 


I       I    Coloured  maps/ 


n 


Cartes  geographiques  en  couleur 


□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

n    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Plane 


iches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relie  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  dune  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ete  filmees. 


Additional  comments:/ 
J    Comm'^ntaires  suppl6mentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  4t^j  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-dtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m6thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag^es 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculees 


V 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d^color^es,  tachet6es  ou  piquees 


I      I    Pages  detached/ 


D 


Pages  detachees 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  inegale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materic 
Comprend  du  materiel  supplementaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


I  I  Showthrough/ 

I  I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I  I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I  I  Only  edition  available/ 


Poges  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmees  d  nouveau  de  facon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqud  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


7 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


D 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  of  the  Public 
Archives  of  Canada 

The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exemplaire  film6  fut  reprodult  grSce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de: 

La  bibliothdque  des  Archives 
publiques  du  Canada 

Les  images  suivartes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet^  de  l'exemplaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim^e  sont  filmds  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commenpant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  chaque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmds  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff^rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reprodult  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  film6  &  partir 
de  Tangle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

/ 


1^ 


i 


/ 


ti-m^ 


T^lae     JTorii^in 


AUGUST,    1890. 


PROPHETS   OF   UNREST. 

It  was,  I  confess,  very  late,  and  only  in  dearth  of  other  read- 
ing, that  I  toolv  up  the  last,  and,  if  popularit}^  and  circulation  are 
the  tests,  the  most  successful,  of  all  tlie  "  Utopias."  I  am  little 
attracted  by  compositions  of  this  class,  either  as  fictions  or  as 
speculations.  As  fictions  they  seem  to  me  inevitably  insipid, 
whatever  the  ttdents  of  the  author,  since  they  deal  with  characters 
which  are  preterhuman.  Speculation  can  no  longer  interest 
when  it  loses  hold  of  reality  and  probability,  and  when,  if  you 
are  so  matter-of-fact  as  to  attem])t  criticism,  the  hy})uthesis  or 
project  slips  away  into  tlie  inane. 

An  historical  interest  and  a  , social  importance  of  a  certain 
kind  these  visions  have.  They  are  ay  .ke  the  rainbow  in  the 
spray  of  Niagara,  to  mark  a  cataract  in  tlic  stream  of  history. 
That  of  More,  from  which  the  general  name  is  taken,  and  that  of 
Rabelais,  marked  the  fall  of  the  stream  from  the  middle  ages  into 
modern  times.  Plato's  "  Re{)ublic  "  marked  the  catastrophe  of 
Greek  republicanism,  tliough  it  is  not  a  mere  "  Utopia  "  but  a 
great  treatise  on  morality,  and  even  as  a  ])olitical  speculation  not 
wholly  beyond  tlie  pale  of  what  a  Greek  citizen  might  have  re- 
garded as  practical  reform,  since  it  is  in  its  main  features  an 
idealization  of  Sparta.  Langland's  vision  of  refoi-m  heralded 
the  outbreak  of  Lollardism  and  the   insurrectiou   of  the  serfs. 

Copyright,  1889,  by  the  Forum  Publishing  Company. 


(X 


■b 


a^ 


^ 


V^ 


.^i' 


^' 


A-nH'>  V7 


im 

(51) 


81)0 


PHOPHETS   OF   UNKEST. 


Tl)c  fancies  of  Rousseau  and  Beruanliii  do  St.  Pierre  lieralded 
tlic  ]{evoiution.  llousseau's  reveries,  be  it,  observed,  iiot  only 
failed  of  reabzation,  but  gave  liardlj  any  sign  of  that  wiiidi 
was  really  couiing.  The  Jacobins  canted  in  his  phrase,  but  they 
returned  to  the  state,  of  natui'c  only  in  personal  lilthiness,  in 
brutality  of  manners,  and  in  guillotining  Lavoisier,  because  the 
Rejudjlic  had  no  neei^  of  cheniists. 

There  is  a  general  feeling  abroad  that  tlic  stream  is  di-awing 
near  a  cataract  now,  and  thei'o  are  apparent  grounds  for  the  sur- 
mise. Tht>4'c  is  everywhere  in  the  social  frame  an  outward  un- 
rest, which  as  usual  is  the  simi  of  fundamental  chane'e  within. 
Old  creeds  have  given  way.  The  masses,  the  artisans  especially, 
have  ceased  to  believe  that  the  existing  order  of  society,  with  its 
grades  of  rank  and  wealth,  is  a  divine  ordinance  against  which 
it  is  vain  to  i-ebel.  They  have  ceased  to  believe  in  a  future  state, 
the  compensation  of  those  whose  lot  is  hard  here.  Convinced 
that  this  world  is  all,  and  that  there  is  nothing  more  to  come,  they 
want  at  once  to  grasp  their  share  of  enjoyment.  The  labor  jour- 
nals are  full  of  this  thought.  Social  science,  if  it  is  to  take  the 
place  of  religio/i  as  a  conservative  force,  has  not  yet  developed 
itself  or  taken  firm  hold  of  the  popular  mind.  The  rivalrv  of 
factions  an;i  demagogues  has  ahnost  every wliere  introduced  mii- 
versal  suffrage.  The  jioorer  classes  are  freshly  possessed  of 
political  jiower,  and  have  conceived  boundless  notions  of  the 
changes  which,  by  exercising  it,  they  may  make  in  their  own 
favor.  They  are  just  in  that  twilight  of  education  in  whicii 
chimeras  stalk.  This  concurrence  of  social  and  economical  with 
political  and  religious  revolution  has  always  been  fraught  with 
danger.  The  governing  classes,  unnerved  by  skejiticism,  have 
lost  faith  in  the  order  which  they  represent,  and  are  inclined  to 
precipitate  abdication.  Many  members  of  them — partlv  from 
philanthropy,  partly  from  vanity,  pai'tly  perhaps  from  fear — are 
playing  the  demagogue  and,  as  they  did  in  France,  dallj-ing  with 
revolution.  The  ostentation  of  wealtli  has  stimulated  to  a  dan- 
gerous ]utcli  envy,  which  has  always  been  ime  of  the  most  pow- 
ei'fnl  elements  of  revt.ibuion.  Tiiis  is  not  tlie  ]>laee  to  cast  the 
hoi'oscoi)e  of  society.  We  may,  after  all,  be  exaggerating  the 
uravitv  of  the  crisis.     T1 


10  first  of  May  passed  without  bringing 


i?>9 


6 


M 


PROPHETS   OF  UNREST. 


GOl 


».) 


'     li 


forth  anvtliiiig  more  portentous  tluiu  an  epidemic  of  sti'ikes, 
whicli,  tliougli  very  disastrous,  as  they  sharpen  and  embitter  class 
antagonisms,  arc  not  in  tlicmsclves  attem})ts  to  subvert  society. 
Sir  Cliarles  Dillcc,  after  surveying  all  the  democracies,  says  that 
the  only  country  on  which  revolutionary  socialism  has  taken  hold 
is  England.  German  socialism,  of  which  Ave  hear  so  much,  ap- 
pears to  be  largely  impatience  of  taxation  and  conseription. 
Much  is  called  socialism  and  taken  as  ominous  of  revolution 
wdiich  is  merely  the  extension  of  the  action  of  government,  wisely 
or  unwisely,  over  new  portions  of  its  present  field,  and  perhaps 
does  not  deserve  the  dreaded  name  so  much  as  our  familiar  Sun- 
day law.  The  crash,  if  it  come,  may  not  be  universal;  things 
may  not  everywhere  take  the  same  coursi,.  Wealth  in  some 
countries,  when  seriously  alarmed,  may  convert  itself  into  military 
power,  of  whicli  tlie  artisans  have  little,  and  may  turn  the  scale 
in  its  own  favor.  Though  social  science  is  as  yet  undeveloped, 
intelli"-encc  has  more  orjrans  and  an  increasing  hold.  The  present 
may  after  all  glide  more  calmly  than  w^e  think  into  the  future. 
Still  there  is  a  crisis.  AVc  have  had  the  Parisian  Commune,  the 
Spanish  Intmnsi'gentes,  nihilism,  anarchism.  It  is  not  a  time 
for  playing  with  wild-fire.  Though  Rouss>^au's  scheme  of 
regeneration  by  a  return  to  nature  came  to  nothing,  his  denun- 
ciations of  society  told  with  a  vengeance,  and  sent  thousands 
to  the  guillotine. 

The  writer  of  an  "Uto})ia,"  however,  in  trymg  to  make  his 
fancy  plausible  and  pleasing,  is  naturally  tempted  to  exaggerate 
the  evils  of  the  existing  state  of  things.  "  Looking  Backward  " 
opens  with  a  very  vivid  and  telling  p'cture  of  society  as  it  is: 

"Byway  of  attempting  to  give  the  reader  some  general  impression  of 
the  way  people  Hved  togetlior  in  those  days,  and  especially  of  the  relations 
of  tlie  rich  and  poor  to  one  anotlier,  poriiaps  I  cannot  do  better  than  to 
compare  society  as  it  then  was  to  a  prodigious  coach,  wliich  the  masses  of 
humanity  were  harnessed  to  and  dragged  toilsomely  along  a  very  hilly  and 
sandy  road.  The  driver  was  hungry,  and  permitted  no  lagging,  though 
the  pace  was  necessarily  very  slow.  Despite  the  diOTiculty  of  drawing  tiie 
coach  at  all  along  so  hard  a  road,  the  top  was  covered  with  passengers,  who 
never  got  down,  even  at  the  steepest  ascent.  These  seats  were  very  hroozy 
and  couifurlablo.  Well  up  out  of  tlie  dust,  thoir  occupants  could  enjoy  the 
scenery  at  tlieir  leisure,  or  critically  discuss  tlie  merits  of  tho  straining 
team.     Naturally  such  places  were  in  great  demand,  tuid  the  cjiiipotitiou 


■*^.. 


turn 


(;o;> 


PROPHETS   OF   UNREST. 


forllioni  was  keen,  every  one  seeking  as  the  first  end  in  life  to  secure  a 
seal  on  the  coacli  lor  himself  and  to  leave  it  to  his  (.hild  alter  him.  By  the 
rule  of  tiie  coacii  a  man  ctnild  lei, veins  seat  to  whom  ho  wisheil,  but  on  tho 
olhi'r  hand  there  were  many  accidents  by  which  it  might  at  any  time  be 
wJiolly  lost.  For  all  that  they  were  so  easy,  the  seats  were  very  insecure, 
and  at  every  sudden  jolt  of  the  coacl  persons  were  slipping  out  of  then, 
ami  falling;'  to  the  ground,  where  they  were  instantly  compelled  to  take  hold 
of  the  rope  and  help  to  drag  the  coach  on  which  they  had  before  ridden  so 
pleasantly.  It  was  naturally  regarded  as  a  terrible  misfortune  to  lose  one's 
seat,  and  tlie  apprehension  that  this  might  liappi-n  to  them  or  their  friends 
was  a  constant  cloud  \ipon  the  happiness  of  those  who  rt)ile.'' 

And  wliat  arc  the  feoling-s  of  tlio  p.isscngci's  toward  the  liap- 
Icss  toilers  who  drag  the  coach?  Have  they  no  compas.^ion  for 
the  sulTerings  of  the  fedow  beings  from  whom  fortune  oiilv  lias 


distino-uif 


slieil 


tl 


lem: 


"Oh,  yes;  commiseration  was  frequently  expressed  by  those  who  rode 
for  tiioso  who  had  to  pull  the  coach,  especially  when  the  vcliicle  came  to  a 
had  place  in  the  road,  as  it  'vas  constantly  doing,  or  to  a  particularly  steep 
hill.  At  such  times  the  desperate  straining  of  the  team,  their  agonized 
leaping  and  plunging  under  the  pitiless  lashing  of  hunger,  the  many  who 
faintoil  at  the  rope  and  were  trampled  in  the  mire,  made  a  very  distressing 
spectacle,  which  often  called  forth  highly  creditable  displaj's  of  feeling  on 
the  top  of  the  coach.  At  such  times  the  passengers  would  call  down  en- 
couragingly to  the  toilersat  the  rope,  exhorting  them  to  paticce,  iind  hold- 
ing out  hopes  of  possible  compensation  in  another  world  for  the  hardness  of 
their  lot,  while  others  contributed  to  buy  salves  and  liniments  for  the 
cripjiled  and  injured.  It  was  agreed  that  it  was  agreat  pity  that  the  coach 
should  be  so  hard  to  pull,  and  theie  was  a  sense  of  general  relief  when  the 
specially  bad  piece  of  road  was  golttni  over.  This  relief  was  not,  indeed, 
wholly  on  accouit  of  the  team,  for  there  was  always  some  danger  at  these 
bad  places  of  agoneral  overtiu'n  in  winch  all  would  lose  their  seats."' 

These  picturesque  passages,  we  have  no  doubt,  will  siidc  deep 
into  the  hearts  of  many  who  will  pay  little  attention  to  the 
si)cculativc  }ilans  of  reconstruction  which  follow.  For  one  reader 
of  "  Progress  and  Poverty  "  who  was  at  the  pain.s  to  follow  tlie 
economical  reasoning,  there  were  probably  thou.sands  who  draidc 
ill  the  invectives  against  wealth  and  tlie  suggestions  of  confi.sca- 
tioii. .  But  is  the  description  here  given  true  or  anything  like  the 
truth?  Are  the  nuusses  toiling  like  the  horses  of  a  coach,  not  for 
tlieir  benefit,  but  merely  for  that  of  the  passengers  whom  they 
draw  ?  Arc  they  not  toiling  to  make  their  own  bread,  and  to 
produce  liy  their  joint  labor  the  things  necessary  for  tlu.'ir  eom- 


■1 


I'ROl'IIETS   OV   UXUKST. 


go;} 


mon  pubsistencc  ?  As  to  tlio  vast  iiiiijitrity  of  tliom  can  it  Yui  said 
that  they  are  k-apiiig  and  [>hiii<i;iiig  in  agony  under  tin-  pitik'ss 
lash  (if  hunger,  hunting  at  tlie  rope  and  tranijiled  in  tin;  mire  ? 
Are  they  luA  with  their  families  living  in  tolerable  comfort,  with 
bread  enough  and  not  witliont  enjoyment  ?  Has  it  not  Ijeen 
])rovcd  Id'vond  doubt  that  their  waiirs  have  risen  jrreatlv  and  are 
still  I'ising  ?  Ibive  not  the  woi'king  classes,  unlike  the  horses, 
votes  ?  Is  there  really  any  such  shar])  division  as  is  here  as- 
sumed to  exist  between  labor  and  wealth  ?  Are  not  many  wdio 
have  more  or  less  of  wealth  and  who  could  have  seats  on  the  top 
of  any  social  coach,  laborers  and  j)rodneers  of  the  most  effective 
kind  ?  Can  so  good  a  wi'iter  l)e  the  dn])e  of  the  fallacy  that  only 
those  who  work  with  the  hands  labor  ?  What  is  the  amount  of 
the  hereditary  property  held  bv  idlers  in  sucli  a  country'  us  the 
United  States,  compared  with  that  of  the  general  wealth  ?  Do 
the  holders  even  of  that  jiroperty  really  add  by  their  existence  to 
the  strain  on  the  workers  as  the  ]iassengers  by  their  jirescnce  add 
to  the  strain  on  the  horses  ?  Su])posing  they  and  their  riches 
were  annihilated,  would  the  workers  feel  any  relief  ?  Would 
they  niit  rather  lose  a  fund  upon  which  they  draw  to  some  ex- 
tent at  need?  The  hereditary  wealth  which  is  here  taken  to  be 
the  monster  iniquity  and  evil,  what  is  it  but  the  savings  of  ]tast 
generations  ?  Had  those  who  made  it  S]ient  it,  instead  of  leav- 
ing it  to  their  children,  should  we  l)e  better  olT  ?  Then,  as  to 
the  feelings  of  the  rich  towtird  the  poor:  can  a  Bostonuin,  as 
this  writer  is,  look  round  his  own  city  and  fail  to  see  that  heart- 
less indifference  has  its  seat  only  in  the  s(uils  of  a  few  sybarites, 
and  that  philanthropy  and  charity  are  the  rule  ? 

Utopists  and  communists  arc  set  at  work  by  the  belief  that 
equal  justice  is  the  luitural  law  of  the  world,  and  that  nothing 
keeps  us  out  of  it  but  the  barrier  of  artificial  arrangements  set 
up  by  the  power,  and  in  the  interest,  of  a  class.  Break  down 
that  barrier  by  revolutionary  legislation,  and  the  kingdom  of 
equal  justice,  they  think,  will  come.  Would  that  it  were  so! 
Who  would  be  so  selfish  and  so  ignorant  of  the  deepest  source 
of  haitpiness  as  not  to  vote  for  the  change,  whatever  his  wealth 
or  his  ])lace  on  the  social  coach  might  be  ?  Unhappily,  neither 
equal  justice  nor  perfection  of  any  kind  is  the  law  of  the  world. 


604 


PROPHETS  OF   UNREST. 


a.s  tlic  worM  is  at  present,  towanl  wlialevcr  f^nal  we  may  lie 
moving.  Health,  strengtli,  beauts',  intelleet,  dH'sjiriiig,  length 
of  days,  are  distributed  with  no  more  regard  for  justiee  than 
are  the  jxjwcrs  oi"  making  and  saving  wealtli.  One  man  is  born 
in  an  age  of  barbari  in,  another  in  an  age  of  eivilization ;  one 
man  in  the  time  of  the  thirty  years'  war  or  the  reign  of 
terror,  another  in  an  era  of  jieaee  and  comparative  happiness. 
No  justiee  can  be  done  to  tlie  myriads  who  have  sulTered  and 
died.  Equal  justiee  is  far  indeeil  from  being  the  law  of  the 
animal  kingdom.  AVhy  is  one  animal  the  beast  of  prey,  another 
the  victim  ?  AVhy  does  an  elei)haiit  live  for  two  centuries  and 
an  eiihemeral  insect  for  a  few  hours  ?  If  you  come  to  that,  why 
should  one  sentient  creature  be  a  worm  and  another  a  man? 
In  earth  and  skies,  in  the  whole  universe,  so  far  as  our  ken 
reaches,  imperfection  reigns.  The  man  who  in  "  Looking  Back- 
ward "  wakes  from  a  magnetic  slumber  to  find  the  lots  of  all 
men  made  just  and  equal,  might  iilmost  as  well  have  awakened 
to  find  all  human  frames  nuide  ])erfect,  disease  and  accident  ban- 
ished, the  animals  all  in  a  state  like  that  of  Eden,  the  Arctic  re- 
'jions  bearing  harvests,  Sahara  moistened  with  fertilizintf  rain, 
the  moon  provitled  with  an  atmcsphcrc,  and  the  solar  system, 
which  at  present  is  so  full  of  gaps  and  wrecks,  symmetri- 
cally comjileted.  All  this  is  no  bar  to  the  rational  effort  by  which 
society  is  gradually  improved.  But  it  shuts  out  the  hope  of  sud- 
den transformation.  Society,  like  the  bodily  frame,  is  an  im- 
])crfect  organism ;  you  ma\'  help  its  growth,  but  you  cannot 
transform  it.  To  revolutionary  violence  the  author  of  "Look- 
ing Backward"  is  whollv  averse.  lie  iiscs  oidv  the  niaijfic 
wand. 

"With  private  i)roperty,  with  wdiich  it  is  the  dre.'im  of  Uto- 
pian writers  to  do  away,  go,  as  everybody  knows,  many  e^•ils; 
among  others  that  of  inordinate  accumulation,  an  instance  of 
whi;,-h  the  other  day  startled  New  York ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  hard  to  see  how  without  |)rivate  jiroperty  we  could  have  the 
home  and  all  that  it  enshrines.  But  let  the  evils  be  wdiat  they 
may,  no  other  motive  power  of  i)roduction,  at  least  of  any  pro- 


duction  bevond  that  ne 


of 


property,  is  at  prese 


cessary  to  stay  liunger,  except  the  desire 
'Ut  known.     A  score  or  more  of  experi- 


PROPHETS  OF  UNREST. 


(UI.J 


int'iits  in  cuiniiiunisiu  liuvo  been  inadc  tijxhi  tliis  continont  hy 
visionaries  of  dill'ereiit  kinds,  from  the  founders  of  Broolv  K;ina 
to  tliose  of  the  Oneida  Coiinnunity  and  the  Sliakers.  '^riiey  have 
faih'd  utterly,  exce})l  in  the  one  oi'  two  cases  wliere  tlie  ruh' of 
eelibaey  lias  been  enforced,  and  the  niendjers,  having  no  wives 
or  children  to  maintain,  and  being  themselves  of  a  specially  in- 
dustrious and  frugal  class,  have  n\ide  enough  and  more  than 
enough  for  their  own  su])|)ort.  Barrack  life,  without  tlu'  home, 
has  also  been  a  condition  of  success.  The  Oneiila  Community, 
the  most  prosperous  of  all,  had  moreover  a  dictator.  So  it  is 
with  regard  to  competition,  that  other  social  fiend  of  this  and 
all  Uto])ians.  Nobody  will  deny  that  competition  has  its  ugly 
side.  But  no  other  way  at  present  is  known  to  us  of  sustaining 
the  })rogress  of  industry  and  securing  the  best  and  cheapest  prod- 
ucts. It  is  surely  a  stretch  of  pessimistic  fancy  to  describe  the 
industrial  world  under  the  competitive  system  as  a  horde  of  wild 
beasts  rending  each  other,  or  as  a  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta,  "  with 
its  press  of  maddened  men  tearing  and  trampling  one  aiiotlu'r  in 
the  struggle  to  win  a  place  at  the  breathing  holes."  It  is  surely 
going  beyond  the  mark  to  say  that  all  producers  are  "praying 
by  night  and  working  by  day  for  the  frustration  of  each  other's 
enteri)rises,"  and  that  they  arc  as  much  bent  on  spoiling  their 
neighbors'  crops  as  on  saving  their  own.  Do  two  tailors  or 
grocers,  even  when  their  stores  are  in  the  same  block,  I'cnd  each 
other  when  they  meet?  Is  there  not  rather  a  certain  fellowshij) 
between  members  of  the  same  trade?  Docs  not  each  think  a 
good  deal  more,  both  in  his  prayers  and  in  his  })ractical  transac- 
tions, of  doing  well  himself  than  of  preventing  the  other  from 
doing  well?  After  all,  there  is  more  co-operation  than  competi- 
tion in  the  industrial  world  as  it  now  exists.  Analyze  tlic  com- 
position of  any  article,  taking  into  account  the  implenients  or 
means  l)v  which  it  has  been  produced,  and  you  will  find  that  to 
produce  it  myriads  have  co-operated  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  yet 
have  not  compctcil  with  one  another.  The  world  would  have 
one  harvest  if  the  protectionists  would  let  us  alone. 

As  a  normal  picture  of  our  present  civilization,  the  table  of 
contents  of  a  newspaper  is  presented  to  us.     It  is  a  mere  cat- 
alogue of  calamities  and  horrors — wai-s,  burglaries,  strikes,  fail- 


GOG 


rUOPlIETS  OF  UNUESl'. 


urcs  ill  husiiu'ss,  coriioriiigs,  luHidlings,  iiiurders,  .suicidt-s,  cm- 
liiv.zIcMiiciits,  ami  cast's  of  cnu'lty,  liinacv,  or  (k'stitntion.  Xo 
doubt  a  real  tabic  of  coiik-iits  would  give  a  pictuiv,  tliongh  not 
so  tcrribk'  ;iiid  licnrtrciiding  as  this,  yet  rie'-  in  I'atastrophcs. 
r>ul  it  is  forgotten  that  the  catastrophes  or  the  e.\cei)tional  events 
alone  are  recorded  by  newspapers,  especially  in  the  tables  of  eon- 
tents,  which  are  intended  to  catch  the  eye.  No  newspaper  gives 
us  a  picture  of  the  ordinary  course  of  life.  No  newspaper  speaks 
of  the  countries  which  are  enjoying  secure  peace,  of  the  people 
who  are  making  a  fair  livelihood  by  honest  indiistrv,  of  the 
families  which  ari'  living  in  comfort  and  the  eiijoyincnt  of  aU'ee- 
tioii.  r)uvcrs  wonld  hardly  be  found  for  a  sheet  which  should 
tell  you  bv  wavof  news  that  bread  was  being  regularly  delivered 
bv  the  baker  and  that  the  milkman  was  going  his  round. 

Centuries  unnuinhcred,  according  to  recent  paheontologists, 
liuniau  .society  has  taken  in  eiiiubing  to  what  is  here  described 
as  the  level  of  a  vast  den  of  wild  beasts  or  a  Black  Hole  t>f  Cal- 
cutta. Yet  in  one  I'cntury  or  a  litth'  more  it  is  to  become  a 
paradise    on    earth.      So    the    writer    of   "  Looking    B.ackward  "' 


dreams 


iml 


to  show   that  he  does  not  iverard  this  as  a  mere 


dream,  he  circs  historical  preccflents  of  changes  which  he  thinks 
cipially  miraeulons — the  sudden  and  nne.Npcetcd  success,  as  it 
appears  to  him  to  have  been,  of  the  American  revolution,  of 
(iernian  and  Italian  unificatii oi.  of  the  agitation  against  slavery. 
Til  two  of  these  cases  at  least,  those  of  German  and  Italian  unity, 
the  wonder  was  not  that  the  event  came  at  last,  but  that  it  was 
delayed  so  h^ng.  In  no  one  of  the  cases,  surely,  is  anything  like 
a  precedent  to  he  found. 

In  a  century  or  a  little  more,  if  we  arc  to  accept  the  statement 
of  Dr.  Leete,  the  .showman  of  the  new  heavens  and  new  earth  in 
''Looking  Backward,"  .society  ha.--  undergone  not  only  a  radical 
change  but  a  comjilete  transformation,  Boston,  of  cour.se,  leading 
the  way,  as  Paris  leads  in  the  regeneration  proclaimed  hy  Comte, 
and  all  the  most  civilized  communities  following  in  her  train. 
Society  has  become  entirely  industrial,  war  being  completely 
eliminated.  No  fear  is  entertained  lest  when  the  civilized 
w  orld  has  been  turned  into  a  vast  factory  of  defenseless  wealth, 
tlie  uncivilized  world  may  be  tempted  to  loot  it. 


puoiMihrrs  OF  unukst. 


607 


(■' 


The  stiitc  lias  hocoiiic'  tlio  .^olc  caiiitalist  ami  the  universal 
employer.  How  did  all  the  eapitid  pass  from  the  hands  of  indi- 
viduals or  private  eompanies  into  those  of  the  state?  Was  it 
ny  a  voluntary  and  universal  surrender?  Wen' all  llic  eapital- 
ists  and  all  the  stoekholders  suddenly  convineed  of  the  bles.ings 
of  self-si)oIiation?  Or  did  the  government  by  a  sweeping  net  of 
eonfiseation  seize  all  the  capital?  In  that  case,  was  there  not  a 
desperate  struggle?  Was  not  the  entrance  into  l^ira<lise  ellerfed 
through  a  civil  war?  The  seer  was  in  his  magnetic  trance  when 
the  trai'  ler  took  place,  and  he  has  not  the  curiosity  to  ask  JJr. 
Leete  how  it  was  elTected.  For  us,  therefore,  the  problem  re- 
mains unsolved. 

The  inducement  to  the  chanc'^  we  are  told,  was  a  sense  of 
the  economic  advantages  prodiu-e  I  by  the  aggregation  of  in- 
dustries  under  co-operative  syndicntes  and  trusts,  which  suggested 
that  by  a  complete  uiiilication  )f  all  industri  .;  under  the  state 
unmeasured  benLlits  might  bu  t)btained.  But  these  corporations, 
syndicates,  and  trusts,  on  however  Ltw  a  scale  they  inay  be,  are 
still  managed  each  of  theiii  by  u  set  of  jjcrsons  (h)votcd  to  that 
particular  business,  and  the}'  depend  for  their  success  on  per- 
sonal aptitude  and  ex})ci'ienc(^  Between  such  aggregations  and 
a  nnilication  of  all  the  induslrico  in  the  lands  of  a  government 
there  is  a  gulf,  and  we  do  not  see  how  the  gulf  is  to  be  j^asscd. 
The  tendency  of  industry  appears,  it  is  true,  to  be  toward  largo 
establishments,  the  advantages  of  wdnch  over  a  multitude  of  petty 
and  starveling  stores,  both  as  regards  those  engaged  in  the  trade 
and  the  consumer,  are  obvious.  But  the  large  establishments 
are  still  sjiecial,  and  the  advantages  of  combining  Ih.  Stewart's 
dry  goods  establishment  with  ]\fr.  Carnegie's  iron  works  are  not 
obvious  at  all. 

To  the  objection  that  the  work  of  managing  all  the  industries 
of  a  country  and  its  foreign  commerce  (for  foreign  connnei'ce 
there  is  still  to  be)  would  be  difficult  for  anj^  government,  the 
simple  and  satisfactory  answer  is  that  in  Utopia  there  could  be 
no  dilficulty  at  all.  The  government  of  a  purely  industrial  com- 
monwealth is  of  course  itself  industrial.  It  consists  of  veterans 
of  labor  chosen  on  account  of  their  merit  as  workers,  the  identity 
of  which  with  administrative  capacity  and  power  of  command,  as 


w 


COS 


FKOPIIETS   OF   UNREST. 


it  is  iiol  likely  to  be  tested,  may  L  assunieti  witlumt  fear  of  dis- 
prool".  Tobaiii  h  an}'  misgivings  which  we  might  have  as  to  tlic 
practicability  of  such  a  government,  the  seer  points  to  the  part 
taken  bv  aliunni  in  the  iioverinncnt  of  universities — surclv  as 
subtle  an  analoiiv  as  the  aeutest  intelligence  ever  discerned. 

TJie  new  organization  of  labor  has  been  followed  by  such  a 
ilood  of  wealth  that  eveiybody  lives,  not  only  in  plenty,  but  in 
luxury  and  refmement  before  unknown.  Everybody  is  able  to 
give  u])  work  at  forty-five  and  jiass  the  rest  of  his  days  in  ease 
and  enjoyment.  "  No  man  any  more  has  any  care  for  to-mor- 
row, either  for  himself  or  his  children,  for  the  nation  guarantees 
the  nurture,  education,  and  comfortable  maintenance  of  every 
citizen  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave."  All  the  world  dresses  for 
dinner,  dines  well,  and  has  wine  and  cigars  after  dinner.  Under 
all  this  lurks,  it  is  to  be  feared,  the  same  fallacy  which  under- 
lies the  theory  of  Mr.  Henry  George,  who  fancies  that  an  in- 
crease of  i)opulation,  being  an  increase  of  the  number  of  labor- 
ers, will  necessarily  augment  production,  and  consequently  that 
the  fears  of  Malthus  and  all  who  dread  o\'er-po]nilation  are  base- 
less. It  is  assumed  that  everything  is  produced  by  labor.  Labor 
only  produces  the  form  or  directs  the  natural  forces.  The  mate- 
'•ial  is  produced  by  Nature,  and  she  will  not  supjjly  more  than  a 
given  quantit}'  within  a  given  area  and  under  given  conditions. 
Even  in  !N[a.ssachusetts,  therefore,  which  is  su})poscd  to  be  the 
jtrimal  scene  of  human  regeneration,  the  ])eople,  however  skilled 
their  labor,  and  however  Utopian  their  industrial  organization 
might  be,  unless  their  number  were  limited  or  their  territory  en- 
larged, would  starve. 

This  is  a  serious  question  for  a  state  which  guarantees  to 
every  one  nurture,  education,  and  comfortable  mainteuanco. 
As  the  guarantee  extenels  to  the  citizen's  wife  and  child  as  well 
as  to  himself,  and  they  are  made  inde})endent  of  his  labor,  the 
last  restraint  of  providence  on  marriage  and  giving  birfh  to  chil- 
dren  would  be  removed.  The  ])eo]>le  would  then  probablv  mul- 
tijtly  at  a  rate  which  would  leave  Irish  or  French-Caiuulian  plii- 
loprogenitivencss  behind,  and  without  remedial  action  a  Aast 
scene  of  squalid  misery  would  ensue. 

There  is  no  more  private  jtroperty.    In  its  ]»lace  comes  a  sense 


'•■s 


PROPHETS  OF  UNREST. 


009 


i^ 


i 


of  public  duty  urging  oacli  man  to  labor.  Of  tbe  sufTieicnt 
strength  of  this  we  are  positivel\  assured,  notwithstanding  the 
result  of  all  the  ex])erinients  hitherto  tried.  lieaiitv  peeps  out 
when  we  are  told  that  those  who  refuse  to  woi'k  will  be  put  into 
confinement  on  bi-ead  and  water — something  like  a  reversion,  is  it 
not,  to  the  coach  and  horses,  with  the  "lash  of  hunger"?  The 
stimulus  of  dutj'  to  the  man's  family  will  exist  no  more,  since 
the  maintenance  of  his  wife  and  children  will  be  taken  oiT  his 
hands  by  the  state.  For  the  lower  natures,  though  not  for  tlie 
higher,  there  will  be  emulation,  whieh,  it  is  taken  for  gi-antcd, 
will  act  on  them  with  undiminished  effect  when  all  the  substan- 
tial prizes  with  which  success  in  the  contest  for  distinction  is 
now  attended  have  been  removed.  An  ajipeal  is  also  made  to 
a  y;<rtA'/-military  sense  of  honor,  and  the  commuinty  is  organized 
as  an  army,  with  military  titles,  apparently  for  that  puriiose. 
But  it  has  been  shown,  in  answer  to  other  theorists  wlio  have 
pointed  to  military  honor  as  a  substitute  for  the  ordinarv  mo- 
tives to  industry,  that  military  duty  is  enforced  b}'  a  code  of  ex- 
ceptional severitv. 

All  arc  to  be  paid  alike,  on  the  iii'incijilc  that  so  long  as  you 
do  yonr  best  your  deserts  are  the  same  as  those  of  otliers, 
though  your  p,(iwer  may  not  be  so  great  as  theii's.  Your  deserts 
in  the  eye  of  Heaven,  no  douht,  are  the  same  if  you  do  your 
best,  and  Heaven,  as  we  believe,  has  the  means  of  ascertaining 
that  your  best  is  being  done.  But  if  it  is  asked  what  means  a 
board  of  industrial  veterans,  or  their  lieutenants,  supposing 
them  to  l>e  ever  so  excellent  craftsmen  themselves,  have  of  as- 
certaining that  every  man  is  doing  his  best,  the  answer,  we  sus- 
pect, must  l)e  that  in  Utoi>ia  such  questions  are  not  to  be  raised. 
In  the  ] -resent  evil  world  most  men  do  their  best,  or  something 
like  their  best,  because  they  have  to  make  their  own  living  and 
that  of  their  wives  and  children.  Some  men,  under  the  volun- 
tary ami  competitive  system,  put  forth  those  extraordinarv  elTorts 
which  make  the  world  move  on.  But  tlie  state,  though  it  miglit 
command  the  daily  amount  of  labor  by  tlirc;it  of  solitary  eon- 
finement  on  l)read-and-water,  could  not  command  im])rovement 
or  invention.  Invention,  it  seems  to  us,  wouhl  be  little  encour- 
aged under  the  Utopian  rcrjime,  since  no  man  is  to  be  allowed  to 


T 


GIO 


PROPHETS  OF    UNliEST. 


sliirk  labor  on  pretense  of  IxMUg  a  student — a  regulation  wliieh 
iiiight  have  borne  liunl  on  Archimedes,  Newton,  or  even  Watts. 
Newton  could  have  given  the  state  no  assiirance  that  his  time 
was  being  well  employed  till  his  discovery  had  been  made. 

Money  has  been  discarded  as  "  tlie  root  of  all  evil,"  though 
the  Gospel  denunciatioji,  we  venture  to  think,  is  leveled  against 
covetousness,  not  against  the  use  of  coin  as  a  circulating  medium, 
wliich,  on  the  contrary,  Christ  seems  to  have  recognized  on  more 
than  one  occasion.  The  }>lace  of  money  is  taken  by  credit  cards, 
entitling  the  bearer,  l)y  virtue  of  liis  mere  humanity,  to  a  share  of 
the  national  [troduce.  "Wages  arc  a  thing  of  the  past.  Tlie  cer- 
tificates are  to  be  presented  at  the  government  store,  for  govern- 
ment is  the  universal  stored-ceeper  as  well  the  universal  cmplo^'er 
of  labor.  Money,  it  is  said,  may  have  been  fraudulently  or  im- 
properly obtained,  but  with  labor  certificates  this  cannot  bo  the 
case.  AVe  hardly  see  how  a  government  storedvceper  at  New 
Orleans  is  to  tell  that  the  certificate  was  not  fraudulently  ob- 
tained at  Boston.  Perhaps  it  is  tacitly  assumed  in  this,  as  it 
seems  to  be  in  other  communistic  schemes,  that  the  members  of 
the  phalanstirrc,  or  whatever  the  organization  is  called,  will  always 
remain  in  the  same  ])laee,  and  that  thus  life  will  become  station- 
ary as  well  as  devoid  of  hidividual  aim.  But  the  weak  part  of 
the  arrangement  betrays  itself  in  the  necessity  of  continuing  to 
use  the  terms  dollars  and  cent<.  They  are  used  only,  we  are 
told,  as  '■  algebraic  syml)ols."  Surely  the  most  obvious  and  the 
safest  course  would  have  been  to  discard  the  terms  altogether, 
pregnant  as  they  were  with  evil  associations  and  likely  as  they 
would  be  to  jierpctuate  the  vicious  desires  and  habits  of  the  past. 
Let  another  set  oi  algebraic  symbols  be  devised,  and  let  us  see 
how  it  will  work.  In  the  ease  of  the  transition  from  the  use  of 
moiuy  lo  that  of  labor  certificates,  as  in  that  of  the  transition 
from  private  connnei'ce  to  commerce  concentrated  in  the  haiulsof 
govcrmiient,  we  should  ha/e  liked  to  be  present  when  the  leap  was 
taken,  or  at  least  to  have  had  some  account  of  the  ]ir(jcess,  espe- 
cially as  it  must  have  taken  i)lace  at  once  over  the  whole  civilized 


Will 


Id.     1- 


iir  commerce 


we  have  said,  there  is  still  to  be:  the 


Utoi)ian  of  Boston  could  not  uet  1 


tO| 

I. 


jaw  as 


a  profession  has  ceased  to  exist.     Of 


lis  wine  and  ciirars  without  it. 
course  where 


\ 


. 


;ift 


PROPHETS   OF   UNUKST. 


611 


there  is  no  property  there  can  ho  no  chancery  suits.  As  nine- 
teen twentieths  of  crime  arises  from  tlie  desire  of  money — not 
from  (b'ink  as  the  prohibitionists  [)reten(l — it  follows  that  in  get- 
ting rid  of  money  society  has  almost  entirely  got  rid  of  crime. 
Of  crime,  in  tlie  present  sense  of  the  term,  indeed,  it  has  got  rid 
altogether.  A  few  victims  of  "  atavism  "  are  left  as  a  sort  of  Uih- 
ute  to  reality,  but  they  generally  save  the  judiciary  trouble  by 
pleading  guilty,  so  high  has  the  regard  for  veracity  become  even 
in  the  minds  of  kleptomaniacs. 

In  the  present  im])erfect  state  of  things,  the  distribution  of 
employments,  it  must  be  owned,  though  partly  a  matter  of  choice, 
is  largely  a  matter  of  chance  and  circumstance,  the  intellectual 
callintjs  a;oinfir  to  those  who  have  the  means  of  a  high  education. 
In  Utopia  it  will  be  entirely  a  matter  of  choice,  after  elaborate 
testing  of  aptitudes  and  tastes  under  the  guidance  of  a  paternal 
government.  It  is  assumed  that  all  em[)loyments  will  attract, 
since  some  men,  after  deliberate  survey  of  all  the  walks  of  life, 
will  conveniently  choose  to  be  miners,  hod-men,  "  odorless  exca- 
vators," brakesmen,  stokers,  or  sailors  on  the  north  Atlantic  pas- 
sage. We  should  rather  apprehend  a  rush  into  the  lighter  call- 
ings, especially  that  of  poets.  The  harcbiess  or  disagreeable 
character  of  work  is  to  be  compensated  by  short  hours — a  jirovi- 
sion  which  we  cannot  help  thinking  might,  if  thoroughly  carried 
into  effect,  entail  such  a  deduction  from  the  sum  of  wealth-pro- 
ducing labor  as  would  counterbalance  even  the  marvelous  gains 
of  state  organization.  Any  repugnance  which  there  might  be, 
will  be  conjured  away  by  saying  that  all  kinds  of  labt)r  are 
equally  honorable.     Do  we  not  say  this  now? 

Everybody  is  to  be  highly  educated  and  thoroughly  refined. 
,This  in  Utopia  will  lujt  interfere  with  the  disposition  for  man- 
ual labor,  nor  will  it  take  too  much  of  the  manual  laborer's  time. 
One  question,  howevei",  occurs  to  us.  The  po]iulation  cannot 
have  been  highly  educated  when  the  system  was  first  introduced. 
IIow  were  the  ignorant  and  unqualified  masses  brought  to  take 
part  in  its  introduction,  and  how  was  its  operation  managed  be- 
fore they  had  been  ecbicated  up  to  the  jiroper  mark?  This  is 
another  problem  of  the  transition  the  solution  of  which  remains 
buried  in  the  seer's  magnetic  sleep. 


t 


filS 


PROPHETS   OF    UNREST, 


The  relations  between  the  sexes  and  the  constitution  of  tlie 
family  are,  of  eourse,  to  be  revolutionized,  and  the  revolution 
has  so  far  an  element  of  jjroljabilit}'  that  it  follows  what  we  may 
suppose  to  be  liostonian  theories  and  lines.  The  women  are  to 
be  organized  apart  from  the  men  as  a  distinet  interest,  under  a 
general  of  theii-  own  who  has  a  seat  in  the  eabinet.  They  would 
do  quite  enough  for  soeiety,  they  ai-e  gallantly  told,  if  they  oecu- 
pied  themselves  only  in  the  cultivation  of  their  own  charms  and 
graces,  women  without  any  sj)eeial  charms  and  graces  but  those 
which  belong  to  the  ])erforniance  of  their  womanly  duties  as 
wives  and  mothers  being  creatures  unknown  in  Ut(jpia.  How- 
ever, for  the  sake  of  their  health  and  to  satisfy  their  feelings  of 
independence,  they  are  to  do  a  very  moderate  amount  of  work. 
They  have  in  fact  nothing  else  to  do.  They  have  no  household 
cares,  as  tlie  state  is  iiiiiversal  cook,  liousemaid,  laundress,  seam- 
stress, and  nurse;  and  "a  husband  is  not  a  baby  that  he  should 
be  eared  for — nor,  of  course,  is  a  wife."  Maternity  is  thrown 
into  the  background.  It  is  an  interlude  in  the  woman's  indus- 
trial life,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  over  the  mother  returns  to  her  in- 
dusti'ial  "  conu-ades,"  leaving  her  child,  apparently,  to  that  univei-- 
sal  ])rovidence,  the  state.  Hitherto,  it  seems,  men,  like  "ernel 
robbers,"  have  "  seized  to  themselves  the  whole  product  of  the 
world  and  left  women  to  beg  and  wheedle  for  their  share."  })y 
whose  labor  the  world  has  been  made  to  yield  its  products,  for 
the  benefit  of  both  sexes,  we  are  not  told.  IIowcA'er,  "that  any 
])ei'son  should  be  dependent  for  the  means  of  support  upon  an- 
other would  be  shoekiniT  to  the  moral  sense  as  well  as  indefcnsi- 

O 

ble  on  any  rational  social  theory."  Women  in  Utopia,  therefore, 
are  no  longer  left  in  "  galling  dependence "  upon  their  luis- 
bands  for  the  means  of  life,  or  children  upon  their  parents. 
Both  wife  and  child  are  maintaind  by  the  direct  agency  ot  the 
state,  so  that  the  wife  no  longer  owes  anA'thing  to  her  husband, 
and  the  child  is  able,  as  reason  and  nature  dictate,  to  snap  its 
fingers  in  its  parents'  face.  The  state  gives  suck,  and  the  baby 
is  no  longer  iguominiously  beholden  to  its  mother  for  juilk.  It 
woulil  be  too  curious  to  ask  what  the  state  is;  whether  it  is  any- 
thing but  the  government,  and  whether  to  be  dependent  on  the 
government  is  not  to  be  dependent  on  beings  not  less  human  than 


t  cS 


t 


riiOPHETS   OF   UNKEST. 


G13 


1 

a?. 


a  liiisl.iiiid,  ;i  /atlier,  or  ;i  in()tlicr.     To  some,  dquMideiK^c  on  llio 
govciMiiiuMit  might  socm  the  most  galling  of  all. 

False  (Iclicacy  is  jmt  out  of  the  way,  and  the  women  are  al- 
lowed to  propose.    They  "  sit  aloft  "  on  tlie  top  of  the  coach,  giv- 
ing the  prizes  for  the  industrial  race,  and  select  only  tlic  best  and 
noMest  men  for  their   husbands.      Ill-favored   men  of  inferior 
type,  and  laggards,  will  be  condemned  to  celibacy.     From  them 
the  ■•  radiant  faces  "  will  be  averted.     These  hapless  i)ersons  are 
treated  with  a  marked  absence,  to  say  the  least,  of  the  2)hilan- 
thropy  which  overflows  njwn  criminals  and  lunatics,  tlnnigh  it 
seems  that  the    plea    of  atavism  should    not   be    less  valid   in 
then-  case.     Has  Dr.  Leetc,  when  he  denies  them  marriage,  found 
a  way   of  extinguishing  their  passions?      If  he   has  not,   what 
moi-al  results  does  he  expecit?     lie  will  answer  perhaps  by  an 
appeal  to  wh.at  maybe  called  the  occult  "  we,"  that  mysterious 
power  which,  in  an  Utopia,  is  present  throughout  to  solve  all  dini- 
culties  and  banish  every  doubt.     Nothing  can  be  luore  divine 
than  the  i)icture  which  Dr.  Lecte  presents  to  us;  but  we  look  at 
It  with  a  secret  misgiving  that  his  community  would  be  in  some 
danger  oi  being  thrust  out  of  existence  by  some  barbarous  horde, 
which  honored   virtue   and   admired   excellence  in   both  sexes 
without  giving  itself  over  to  a  slavish  and  fatuous  worship  of 
either,  held  men  and  women  alike  to  their  natural  duties,  and 
obeyed  the  laws  of  nature. 

The  government  is  the  universal  publisher,  and  is  bound  to 
publish  everything  brought  to  it,  but  on  condition  that  the 
author  pay  tlie  first  cost  out  of  his  credit.  How  the  author, 
while  ^preparing  himself  to  write  "Paradise  Lost"  or  the  "Priti- 
c^pia,"  is  to  earn  a  labor  credit,  we  hardly  see.  The  literature  of 
Utopia  is  of  course  divine.  To  read  one  of  Berrian's  novels  or 
one  of  Gates's  poems  is  worth  a  year  of  one's  life.  AVould  that 
wo  had  a  specimen  of  eithei-I  We  should  then  be  able  to  see 
how  far  it  transcended  Shakespeai-e  or  Seott.  For  love  stoi-ies, 
we  are  told,  there  will  be  material  in  plenty  and  of  a  much  higher 
•  lualify  than  there  was  in  the  days  of  coarse  and  stormy  "pas- 
sion. The  actual  love  alTair  that  takes  place  in  Utopia  certainlv 
<locs  not  remind  us  much  of  '' Komeo  and  Juliet."     Of  the  pul- 


pit eloquence  we  have  a,  specimen,  and  it  is  startlingly  lik 


ke  oui's. 


(ji-i 


PROPHETS  OF  UNREST. 


One  great  improvement,  however,  there  is;  the  preaching  is  hy 
telephone  and  you  can  shut  it  oil'. 

The  pliysieal  arrangements  arc  carried  to  inillenarian  per- 
fection. Instead  of  a  multitude  of  separate  und)rellas,  one  com- 
mon umbrella  is  jnit  by  the  state  over  Boston  when  it  rains. 
The  whole  community  is  converted  into  one  vast  Wanamaker's 
store.  You  turn  on  celestial  music  as  you  turn  on  gas  or  water. 
These  visions  of  a  material  heaven  on  earth  naturally  arise  as 
the  hope  of  a  spiritual  heaven  fade  away. 

It  is  specified  that  at  a  man's  death  the  state  allows  a  fixed 
sum  for  his  funeral  ex^^enses.  This  is  the  only  intimation  that 
over  the  social  and  material  Paradise  hovers  Death. 

A  vista  of  illimitable  progress — progress  so  glorious  that  it 
dazzles  the  prophetic  eye,  is  said  all  the  time  to  be  opened.  But 
how  can  there  be  progress  beyond  perfection?  How  can  there 
be  great  progress  without  organic  change?  How  can  there  be 
organic  change  without  something  like  a  revolution  in  the  gov- 
ernment? Finality  is  the  trap  into  which  all  Utopians  fall. 
Comtc,  after  tracing  tlie  movement  of  humanity  through  all  the 
ages  down  to  his  own  time,  undertakes  by  his  supreme  intelli- 
gence to  furnish  it  a  creed  and  a  set  of  institutions  which  are  to 
serve  it  forever.  Progress,  however,  we  do  not  doubt  there 
would  be  with  a  vengeance.  The  monotony,  the  constraint,  the 
procrusteanism,  the  dullness,  the  despotism  of  the  system  would 
soon  give  birth  to  general  revolt,  which  would  dasli  the  whole 
structure  to  pieces. 

We  have  touched  very  lightly  on  each  point,  because  we 
have  felt  all  the  time  that  we  might  be  committing  a  platitude, 
and  that  the  gifted  and  ingenious  author  of  "Lookiiig  Back- 
ward "  might  laugh  at  our  simplicity  in  seriously  criticising  a 
brilliant  jeu  d' esprit. 

GoLDWix  Smith. 


I 


M 


I 


